Cave of Forgotten Dreams

The latest "ain't earth weird?" documentary from Werner Herzog focuses on the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave in southern France, where the oldest known cave paintings offer clues to what humans were like 32,000 years ago. Herzog narrates in his usual faux-naif persona ("Is this where the modern human soul was born?"), and though his verbal shtick grows tiresome, his images never do: the paintings are extraordinary and the 3-D cinematography invites the viewer to get lost in every brushstroke. This is one of the few films to use the format for intellectual, even philosophical ends: the added depth parallels the deeper understanding of humanity that the paintings inspire.
ByBen Sachs